domingo, 31 de enero de 2010

Sin #27: Poetic Love

Fanny spends her days sewing wonderful garments, reading poetry by her window sill and taking care of her mother and siblings. One day she meets a young and awkward young man named John Keats who lives with his best friend Charles Brown; both of them are poets. Although Fanny hates Brown’s poems, she loves Keats’ and is intrigued by this shy and quiet man.

“Bright Star” is one of the most powerful romances I’ve seen in a movie. It resonates beyond any traditional genre formula by gently developing two extraordinary personalities. Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw give amazingly nuanced performances. Fanny is a strong woman, never afraid of giving her honest opinion (she reminded me a little of Jane Austen’s character Elizabeth Bennet, from “Pride and Prejudice”). Keats is more of a troubled soul, capable of writing beautiful and haunting poems but incapable of revealing his true feelings to Fanny (he confesses to be confused by women); in his mind Keats always considered himself a failure (he barely sold a single book and was poor for most of his life).

If there ever was a film begging to be seen on the big screen, this is it. Director Jane Campion composes each scene like a Victorian painter and lets us drown in the exquisite images. Her best asset is her sense of cinematic rhythm; she never pumps up the volume. By creating a sensuous sense of pace, she develops a poetic tone that matches the beauty of Keats’s words.

“Bright Star” is a marvelous movie that left me heart-broken at its tragic conclusion. It’s so powerful that I immediately went looking for Keats’s poems. Instead of ending this article in a traditional manner I thought of quoting one of his best.



Ode to a Nightingale



I.




MY heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
’Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,-
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.


II.




O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:


III.




Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.


IV.




Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:
Already with thee! tender is the night,
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Cluster’d around by all her starry Fays;
But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.


V.




I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;
White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets cover’d up in leaves;
And mid-May’s eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.


VI.




Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain -
To thy high requiem become a sod.


VII.




Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.


VIII.




Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toil me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is fam’d to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep?

sábado, 30 de enero de 2010

Sin #26: Class Dismissed

I never had a great teacher. Some enjoyed their subjects and tried their hardest to pass on their knowledge but none ever made a connection; maybe the problem was with me, maybe I was too self-absorbed.

Even though I never got to really have a mentor, I have nothing but respect for teachers. God knows it’s a hard job spending endless hours inside a hot classroom with four dozen students who’d rather be doing something else; tired and underpaid, they keep on.

Movies about teachers always take the easy road. They portray lessons of idealism surrounding a teacher who’s virtually a saint and green students who, through the academic term, learn to grow both emotional and intellectually. The whole teacher-student dynamic has become nothing more than a cliché for cheap morality.

There is, however, a movie that captures the essence of what the school system represents and the true dynamic of a classroom. That movie is “Entre Les Murs” which was the Palm D’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival a couple of years ago.

Taking its entire running time inside a school and focusing on a teacher and a difficult group of students from very different ethnic backgrounds, it achieves an almost documentary feel.

The film was written and directed by Laurent Cantet, who is in real life a school teacher and the cast also features real students. Watching it one almost forgets about acting since the screenplay doesn’t rely on artificial and plot driven dialogues; it’s almost as if we’re experimenting an improvisational workshop.

The other day I watched a Mexican production called “El Estudiante” that managed to cram every cliché one could imagine. It was about an aging man hoping to study literature in the university of Guanajuato (which is a lovely location, I have to admit) and how he changes the lives of the young students around him. There’s not a single sequence that doesn’t feel artificial and contrived. Movies like these were made for lazy audiences since there’s nothing that will challenge o surprise them; here’s a movie targeted at those looking for stories about cardboard characters and happy endings. Watching it, it helped me realize just how powerful “Entre Les Murs” is without even trying. We draw our own conclusions and are glad to experience a movie that doesn’t condescend to its audience.

miércoles, 27 de enero de 2010

Sin #25: Existentialism for Dummies

Sometimes the pressure is simply overwhelming; the pressure of a stressful job or a messy relationship can lead to an endless depression. Undoubtedly, our souls seem to be a heavy burden from time to time.

Take the actor Paul Giamatti, for example; he’s stuck in a role he can’t seem to break and feels the weight of his soul crushing on him. One day he finds a curious article on the New Yorker about a company that stores souls; surely it has to be a joke, right?

He’s intrigued and decides to pay them a visit. Next thing he knows, he is walking the streets of New York City without a soul. He feels strange and rather hollow but he no longer is depressed. His soul is stored in a locker and looks like a peanut inside a vase. When he is bored of being soulless he decides he wants to have his own back, except that it has been stolen by a Russian contraband agency who wanted the soul of an American actor, someone like Al Pacino or Johnny Depp; Giamatti’s will do, though.

“Cold Souls” has a plot very much inspired by the work of Charlie Kauffman who wrote “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”.

In “Eternal Sunshine…” there’s a company that deals in erasing memories. For Joel (Jim Carrey) it seems the perfect way to get over Clementine (Kate Winslet) since she went to the company first to get over him.

Both movies could be considered existential dramas since they make us wonder about the human condition without detailing the technical procedures of their own gimmicks. Both transgress realities without becoming quite science fiction genre pieces and resort to fantastical elements that the audience must simply accept.

The brilliance of Kauffman’s writing is that he introduces relatable characters in a state of depression or existential crisis and offers a glimmer of hope for them, at the end they find themselves closer to happiness than ever before (except for Kauffman’s directorial debut “Synecdoche, New York” that is one painful and depressing ride).

Still one has to handle it to him, Charlie (with help of his imaginary twin brother Donald) knows quite a bit about the human condition.

martes, 26 de enero de 2010

Sin #24: The Strange Alchemist

At the beginning we see Fenix naked at an asylum. He doesn’t talk much anymore. We can sense a deep hurt that is slowly consuming him and eventually will turn him into a murderer of women, driven by hallucinations of his dead mother.

Fenix grew up in a circus in Mexico City; his mother was a religious fanatic and head of a strange cult that worshipped a virgin girl with no arms and legs and whose church was erected over a pool of blood (presumably the virgin’s own), his father was a disgusting knife thrower who cheated on his mother and taught Fenix the hard ways of life.

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s haunting “Santa Sangre” may be the most linear and cohesive of his films but it’s also one of his most resonant. He leads us to a heartbreaking journey that’s both twisted and beautiful and at the end we can even sympathize with Fenix’s tortured soul.

Jodorowsky is one of cinema’s great visionaries; for decades some of his films remained hidden by a greedy producer but fortunately they were finally released in DVD as a trilogy (“Fando y Lis”, “El Topo” and “La Montaña Sagrada”). Each of his movies contains extraordinary images that evoke religious iconography and political themes (in “La Montaña Sagrada” there is an astonishing sequence that represents the Spanish conquest through a miniature set and frogs and lizards in full costume).

Jodorowsky is also a very prolific writer and most of his books focus on his own childhood and his extraordinary life. It chronicles a Chilean boy growing under the roof of a vicious and cruel father, becoming an exile and moving to Mexico to work in film and theater and being condemned for creating unsettling art that really pushed the boundaries of its time and finally moving to Europe to settle and grow old in peace. With the years he garnered many fans who understood the religious and erotic motifs (among his admirers was John Lennon who loved “El Topo”, promoting it at the time).

Here’s a chance to experience some of the most audacious and beautiful films you will ever see and admire a true artist who never compromised his vision.


domingo, 24 de enero de 2010

Sin #23: Greed is Gud

We are living difficult times. The economic recession brought most corporations to their knees and forced them into bankruptcy; people lost their jobs and couldn’t pay their mortgages forcing them out of their homes.
Of course it can all be accounted to a rather simple idea really, greediness. The US spend millions of dollars on a war that turned out to be a major fiasco and banks offered so many mortgage loans accumulating so much interest that very few people could actually pay them. Once the crisis struck on Wall Street, it was only inevitable that the US was going to drag the rest of the world with their mess.

The documentary “I.O.U.S.A” does a very effective job of explaining the crisis in simple terms; it also paints a rather stark future for the next generations since they will have to deal with important issues like the loss of oil, which will definitely impact the economy in unforeseen ways. How many jobs does the oil industry offer? Millions I can imagine.

People are saying that the documentaries of late are becoming more depressing and pessimistic, and while that can be accounted to the economical, social and ecological crisis, they also serve to remind us that the time to surrender to the bullshit of the government and media has ended. Action needs to be taken by all citizens.

One of the season’s high profile movies is Jason Reitman’s “Up In the Air” that made me think about a lot of things. It’s a very good movie that takes on a rather dark and depressing subject and sugar-coats it with a cute romantic subtext diminishing a little its dramatic impact. As a Hollywood piece of entertainment it works very well but there’s an underlying truth that gets truncated, and that’s the reality of the unemployed workers and their future. Do we really feel at ease following the arrogant Ryan Bingham as he discovers the true meaning of life while he destroys the lives of thousands of honest and dedicated employees?

My favorite character in the movie was the young and naïve Natalie (wonderfully played by Anna Kendrick). She represents the inexperienced and fresh college graduate that through noble intentions wants to change the world, only that she doesn’t quite grasp the ugliness of her job and how it requires people to have no moral ethics (after all, her company fires people and leaves them hanging to a very thin string of hope).

It may be a difficult time but I believe there’s still a chance to change. “Up In the Air” doesn’t exactly have a happy ending, especially for Ryan Bingham, but I sure believe there was hope for Natalie.

viernes, 22 de enero de 2010

Sin #22: Two French Animated Flicks

On the one hand we’ve got the triplets of Belleville who, at their prime, were exhilarating singers and icons of the burlesque show. However, the years have passed and they rarely perform anymore, instead they spend their time hunting for frogs (since it’s an essential part of their diet) and relaxing at home.

One day they meet a strange old lady on the street and decide to give her shelter. She is looking for her grandson (a renowned professional cyclist) who has been kidnapped by the mafia.

“The Triplets of Belleville” is whimsical and bizarre, a film that virtually uses no dialogue to convey very strange emotions. The movie is intrinsically French, from the grotesque designs of a crowded city inhabited by disgusting and obese people to the peculiar music created by the triplets, using such instruments as vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and old newspapers. This ain’t no Disney film, that’s for sure.

On the other hand there’s Marjene, a quirky and lively girl growing up in Iran under a dictatorial government. This cruel regime has also made the life of her and her family a living hell so they decide to send her to Europe where she can live a more peaceful and exciting life.

“Persepolis” is a wonderful tale of a woman, her life’s experiences and heritage. It tells the story of a country torn apart and the damage it did to future generations through Marjene’s unique point of view (it happens that Marjene is a real person and the movie is based on the graphic novel she created).

While “The Triplets from Belleville” is colorful and packed with vibrant visuals, “Persepolis” is drawn in black and white, featuring a sober and distinct look. What they both show are unique visions and the need to introduce mature thematic elements into animated features (which are traditionally seen as merely children’s entertainment); they also prove that the animated front shouldn’t only be dominated by the American and Japanese markets. These two inventive and original films are prime examples of thoughtful entertainments that should be seen by any filmgoer and not just the art festival crowd.



martes, 19 de enero de 2010

Sin #21: The Royale

Imagine a future in which schools have been overrun by delinquents and violence has hit an all-time high. Prisons have become insufficient and the government, in a panic, suddenly decides to reform the constitution and create a live 3-day competition called “Battle Royale”.

The rules of “Battle Royale” are simple. Students will be shipped to an island and enforced with a collar that will explode after 3 days. To survive they will be given a weapon, randomly selected (some might get a gun or an axe, but others simply get a flashlight or a GPS device). The objective is to kill before someone kills you, and at the end only one person will survive.

When I heard the premise of this film I thought I’d be watching yet another Japanese bloodfest relieved of any wit or common sense; maybe something in the vein of Takeshi Miike’s “Ichi the Killer”, a movie which remains one of the most uncomfortable viewing I have ever experienced (Miike is a talented filmmaker and “Ichi” has a devoted cult, but the story is impenetrable and the violence is so excessive it achieves levels of cartoon lunacy).

“Battle Royale”, however, was a richer and smarter experience than I had hoped for. Yes, it is pretty violent but there are characters worth spending time with, and excellent performances (especially by the always interesting Takeshi Kitano). The movie isn’t always winking at the audience and takes its storyline very seriously; hell, I even loved its eclectic soundtrack.

The movie became a cult item almost immediately and inevitably produced a sequel. But “Battle Royale 2” isn’t only inferior to the original in every way, it is an abomination; all the charm of the original has been drained and instead we get terrible overacting and endless action sequences with absolutely no back story or reason to exist, for that matter. Here’s a sequel fans simply ignore and pretend it never happened (I also heard rumors of an American remake, but I decided to ignore them too since I think it’s a terrible idea).

The original “Battle Royale” may have hints of political and social themes interwoven in its violent story but it is, more than anything, an entertaining example of Japanese cinema and a very original work.

domingo, 17 de enero de 2010

Sin #20: Selling Erotica

We all try our hardest to make a living in this world based on our talents and interests. I, for example, studied architecture to become a full-fledged and hardworking architect but there are others who use their physical appearance and sexual appeal as a means to earn their dough. After all, it’s a living.

For a while I thought the escort service was merely a fancy name for prostitution; regardless of the social and economic ranks I thought these women only offered sexual pleasure for a rate.

Well, that’s not quite accurate. Escorts in high level society not only sell their bodies, they sell the whole package, lock stock and barrel. They offer what’s called the “girlfriend experience”.

Take Chelsie, the protagonist of “The Girlfriend Experience”. She’s a hardworking escort that takes her business very seriously; she carefully chooses her clients, advertises herself in a nice web page and becomes involved with the person she’s with. It seems she listens to her customers and even pretends to actually care about them. But it’s a tough life being Chelsie; younger and more attractive girls come every week and the financial crisis has left her with only a handful of clients.

In the movie she is played by Sasha Grey, a famous porn star who makes her debut in a mainstream feature with this movie. She doesn’t overact and simply plays her as a kind of entrepreneur who happens to be an escort (probably mimicking her real-life persona). She’s good in the movie and fortunate to work with a director like Steven Soderbergh who usually chooses interesting projects (unlike Jenna Jameson who chose to star in a sleazy and incompetent horror movie called “Zombie Strippers” as her mainstream debut).

Those expecting sex in the movie will be disappointed since no sexual activity is graphically depicted; in a way, eroticism is not the point of the film (for a movie about eroticism I strongly recommend “The Dreamers”, a powerful and arousing experience). The point is taking prostitution seriously as a profession and not merely a wayward activity.

We can almost admire Chelsie’s dedication as she cruises Manhattan with her lavish lifestyle; with poignancy we can also realize that that life isn’t going to last for long. After all, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.

sábado, 16 de enero de 2010

Sin #19: Is It Real?

The “mockumentary” has become an intriguing and popular genre since it’s an effective medium to draw viewers into stories that somehow could be true. Recently we’ve seen horror films using the same techniques to elicit a queasy feeling of dread and mystery (crating a low budget phenomenon like “The Blair Witch Project” or the recent “Paranormal Activity”). Curiously, the popularity of these movies has also created a backlash in which some audiences claim to be sick and dizzy at the hand-held approach and frustrated at the lack of a proper explanation and resolution.

The low budget films resort to primal fears; fears of the dark, strange noises or isolation (I recall a very effective movie called “Open Water” about a couple forgotten on the vastness of the ocean gradually realizing nobody is going to come back for them). This approach to horror is way more effective than the serial killer stalking teenagers on hostile places or the endless American retreads of Japanese films featuring eerie children.

“Mockumentaries” can also be very effective as comedic works. Like the movies of Christopher Guest, who uses the genre as a way of satirizing social stereotypes. Take his “Best in Show, for example. It’s an absolutely hilarious mockery of dog pageants and their owners. In it we meet the different characters and their relationships with their dogs.

Since most of the dialogues feel improvised (although I’m pretty sure everything is very well rehearsed) we believe it as a documentary and laugh at the absurdity of the character’s personalities. Guest has done other movies but “Best in Show” is his funniest and most endearing.

“Mockumentaries” are strange pseudo documents of life (said to be the only new genre that cinema created). In the hands of proper filmmakers they can be terrific entertainment, although they can also be responsible for abominations (like the horrible “Cannibal Holocaust” which managed somehow to garner a cult following). It all depends on the credibility of its premise and their performers really.



jueves, 14 de enero de 2010

Sin #18: Far Behind

It must be very hard to walk away from your life. First you’re a college graduate with a bright future ahead of you and then you’re simply an outcast struggling to survive. Cristopher McCandless renounced to everything and sought refuge in the wilderness of Alaska. He travelled through the country meeting wise and kind strangers, working just for the experience so every day he could get a little bit closer to Alaska. The question is: why?

Well, we’re not quite sure and “Into the Wild” isn’t really an attempt to simplify its protagonist and his journey. Some might admire his determination and stamina and others might despise his selfishness. In a way Christopher represents nihilism and youth alienation.

He certainly resented his parents who were always at each other’s throat and the way they planned for him to live his life. His only ray of sunshine was his sister who truly loved him but one has the feeling that Christopher could never express those emotions and that maybe his journey was a way to understand them and ultimately find redemption.

What “Into the Wild” teaches us is that the whole romantic notion of the wilderness is a lie and whoever tries to defy it must pay the dire consequences (the final scenes of this film are truly tragic but, in a way, inevitable).

Sean Penn’s movie reminded me of Werner Herzog’s amazing documentary “Grizzly Man” that chronicled the last days of Timothy Treadwell, a conservationist who lived among bears until one day he and his girlfriend suffered a terrible fate out in the wild. The documentary has an eerie quality since it shows Treadwell’s own footage but wisely avoids presenting the audio tape of his death. His footage gradually shows him losing his sanity.

In both films it seems that there is a theme of respect; respect for an environment that can be hostile and unforgiving and the animals that inhabit it, not cuddly domesticated creatures but real and dangerous predators. McCandless and Treadwell were real people that underestimated the consequences of their actions; they’re certainly not role models and that, in a way, makes them tragic individuals. Their stories however have made great movies.

Sin #17: Clerking

I used to work at a video store for a while. It was a dull job since there were hardly any customers and the place was so small you could barely move through its tiny halls. I remember sitting down at the counter waiting for the hours to pass while I stared at a small screen with the same movies playing over and over (maybe hell is something similar except it will only play one movie: “Mrs. Doubtfire”). Being a clerk isn’t fun unless you hang out with other people in your current situation.

Kevin Smith’s “Clerks” understands this. In a way it’s one of the defining movies of the so-called “Generation X”; it’s about characters who never moved on (they didn’t go to college, get married or even imagined climbing the employment ladder).

For Randal and Dante life consists on making inane conversations about everything; from the weird costumers, to hockey, to even “Star Wars” (Smith’s movies reference them all the time). All they get to do is jibber witty remarks all day long. (It also appears that they do double shifts since they don’t have anything better to do).

“Clerks” is a very funny movie that features an assured and intelligent script (even though it’s filled with profanity and vulgarity) that captures the voice of that particular generation. It certainly made an impact at the time and gave Kevin Smith his pass to make other films (including the brilliant and controversial “Dogma”).

The sequel came more than a decade later and even though it contains hilarious sequences (especially one that involves a debate between a “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” fan) it somehow lacks the freshness of the original. It also seems that parenthood changed Smith since it features sweet and tender moments that don’t really fit with the personality of the characters. It appears Smith has gone soft on us.

The two clerk films are very entertaining movies that capture the feeling of being “stuck in a moment” and somehow realizing that it’s never too late to grow up and face adulthood (even when these guys feel way too old to be realizing it). It’s also a way to enjoy Smith’s dialogues and the way the actors have fun reciting them.

miércoles, 13 de enero de 2010

Sin #16: Wicked Little Town

Hedwig performs with her low-rent band on cafeterias and cheap bars. Most of her songs are autobiographical and describe an unhappy childhood in Germany where she started out as a boy, fell in love with a man in the army and then received an unsuccessful sex change operation leaving her with what she calls an “angry inch”.

She then fled to the United States where she met Tommy on a babysitter gig. He was a dreamy adolescent with hopes of becoming a rock star. Hedwig fell in love; unfortunately Tommy Gnosis (with his new rock star name) stole her songs and abandoned her.

The reason why “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is such a memorable movie is because it features brave performances and extraordinary music; but this isn’t your typical fancy musical with glamorizing songs about love and perseverance, here they are raw and angry utilizing rock and roll as a medium to express Hedwig’s pain. In a way it’s one of the few last rock operas and an electrifying blast of fun.

The director and actor John Cameron Mitchell doesn’t show transsexuals or homosexuality in a sensationalist view, he merely observes them as troubled human beings that somehow have become outcast of conservative societies. In his next movie, the engrossing and touching “Shortbus”, he went for a more ambitious approach. He decided to turn the tables on the debate about pornography and art; by blurring those dividing lines and giving equal importance to the characters and their sexual ventures, he has made a liberal and open movie about tolerance. When most movies play it safe, “Shortbus” defies taboos from western societies and becomes a rather important work.

Another movie that deals with transsexuals in a thoughtful way is “Transamerica”, which features a remarkable performance by Felicity Huffman. It involves a cross-country journey to find the son of Bree, a transsexual about to receive her sex change operation. Her son turns out to be a troubled boy that works as a male prostitute.

In all of these films there seems to be a congenial theme of acceptance. And in a society still filled with taboos (especially with prop 8 in California) we need art to offer a mirror.

martes, 12 de enero de 2010

Sin #15: Beneath the Grass

Is the symbolism of the opening scene for “Blue Velvet” a little too obvious? As the camera focuses on a man watering his lawn and falling to the ground and then zooms to reveal the hidden world beneath the grass, it’s clear that this is David Lynch’s way of hinting at us that behind suburbia and the American myths lies a dark and foreboding layer of violence and sexuality.

In the beginning we’re introduced to Jeffrey, a shy and quiet young man. One day, while he is walking through a field, he finds a human ear on the ground and alerts the police; his curiosity leads him to dig deeper until he finds a connection to a club singer named Dorothy Vallens. In one of the most famous and disturbing sequences, he hides in her closet and watches as a man abuses her both emotionally and sexually. Dorothy then realizes Jeffrey is hiding and forces him to hit her.

“Blue Velvet” is erotically charged and contains haunting and brutal images. The acting is really powerful (especially from Isabella Rossellini as a wounded soul and Dennis Hopper as a perverted monster) and the story is far more linear than Lynch’s experimental efforts like his debut “Eraserhead” or his latest film “Inland Empire”; one could even say the ending is optimistic.

What the movie does is show his affection for dark stories born out of local and ordinary towns and the confrontation between pure and honest people and true evil (much like his acclaimed series “Twin Peaks” also starring Kyle Maclachlan in a very different role). Lynch’s movies are truly fascinating ventures that go beyond our expectations and linger in our subconscious, almost like weird, beautiful dreams.

His films have a lot of replay value since you always find something different to cherish at each viewing. As aural experiences they are also invaluable since Lynch gives equal importance to the music as the visuals (for a truly mesmerizing experience, I recommend “Industrial Symphony No. 1” a live hypnotic performance by Julee Cruise).

Lynch hasn’t directed a movie in a while but he is busy working in several interesting projects like a series of online interviews called “Interview Project” (which can be seen in his official web page) and a musical collaboration with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse called “Dark Night of the Soul” (a terrific album). Lynch’s imagination is certainly not a bad place to get lost into.


lunes, 11 de enero de 2010

Sin #14: Muses of Life

Guido is in a state of creative bankruptcy; even though his latest movie is going into production none of the people involved have a clue about Guido’s vision for the film or, for that matter, the general outline of the plot.

At the same time Guido seems tormented by his past and present, turning his fantasies into lucid daydreaming escapades. He sees his mother, the prostitute he met at an early age, his wife, his current mistress and even the actresses struggling to get a part on the movie.

What’s fascinating about Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2” is how deeply involving Guido’s story is, even though he could be considered a louse and a misogynistic pig. Fellini claims the story to be semi-autobiographical but the director shows no symptoms of creative fatigue with this story, quite the contrary; the film is truly alive, a joyous celebration of cinema filled with incredible sights and a brilliant musical score.

The popularity of “8 ½” led to lots of revamps and remakes and even a Tony-award stage musical. This last one has recently been turned into a movie introducing the strange phenomenon of “remaking a remake” (this also happened with “The Producers” which started as a Mel Brooks comedy, was adapted as a musical for the stage and then made into a movie based on the musical, a truly awful movie really). Whether “Nine” (which is the dull title for the musical remake of “8 ½”) is any good is unknown (I haven’t seen it but the reviews have been terrible so far) but I must be honest, I’m not interested in the slightest. Why would anyone chose this version over the Fellini original? Why even make it if it will be compared to the classic film and inevitably fall short? Why would they choose Daniel Day Lewis over Marcello Mastroianni?

Don't get me wrong, Day Lewis is one of our great living actors, giving towering performances in movies like “Gangs of New York” or the great “There Will be Blood”, but he doesn’t strike me right as a charming womanizer. Mastroianni is effortless in the role channeling both personality and attitude; we believe lots of women would fall for him but with Day Lewis, not so much.

Fellini’s “8 ½” is one of cinema’s great accomplishments, a movie that celebrates de art of filmmaking and delivers a delicious story, equally sad and joyful. It’s a triumph.

domingo, 10 de enero de 2010

Sin #13: Television Knights

For decades, television shows were no match, at least on production values, to Hollywood productions. While high-profile movies had huge budgets, most ambitious shows had relatively low ones featuring stories that, while intriguing, had to settle for cheesy sets and lousy special effects.

But recently it seems that the tables have turned and American television is coming to an uprising. Programs are showing amazing technical craftsmanship and detailed and complex story lines. The acting has been superb and many great actors have found a comfortable venue on these shows.

HBO has been largely responsible for this new dawn since it allows filmmakers a so- called clean slate (there are no restriction or censorship of any kind since it doesn’t follow the usual television norms). The popularity of critically acclaimed shows like “The Sopranos” or “The Wire” propelled the channel to deliver more high quality programs including the brilliant mini-series “Rome”, that’s one of the most involving and stunning representations of Roman cultures I’ve ever seen (so accurate that it’s not shy of sex and violence). Other worthy HBO series are “Curb your Enthusiasm” (by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David) and “Flight of the Conchords”.

Other channels followed in HBO’s successful formula, channels like Showtime or AMC that feature amazing programs like “Mad Men”, “Breaking Bad”, “The Tudors” or “Dexter”. Even Fox or NBC strike high with “Lost”, “24”, “House” or “Dollhouse” (another sadly underrated and critically misunderstood show by Josh Whedon that, like “Firefly”, faces early cancellation).

“Dexter”, in particular, has become a benchmark of quality by featuring some of the best written shows in years. Its fourth season highlights one of the most astonishing character arcs I’ve seen on TV and a dramatically explosive finale (the final episode drew record ratings by network standards).

While mainstream Hollywood sometimes feels like it’s in recession time and reduced to cram out remakes, sequels or spin offs, television seems to be in a sort of renaissance period by delivering smart and provocative programming. Producers have also blurred the distinction between movies and TV by working with people from both industries (JJ Abrams, creator of “Alias”, “Lost” and “Fringe” now is a major film director and director Brian Singer is an executive producer on “House”).

So, when cinema sometimes fails to meet our standards we can turn to TV with relief, at least there are some great stories on the tube.


viernes, 8 de enero de 2010

Sin #12: Number Theories

It must feel very claustrophobic spending days on end in a tiny apartment covered wall-to-wall with computers. Even more so when you’re on the verge of finding a breakthrough that could very well change the world although you aren’t quite sure how to decipher it.

Max Cohen is going mad. Since he was a kid he’s suffered from headaches and nausea and has never been the social type. He’s a mathematician with an obsession; for him there are patterns everywhere, even in chaos, and once you can unlock a pattern you can pretty much predict whatever you want (like the stock market). His main obsession is PI or 3.1416 (an endless string of numbers that apparently don’t seem to have a pattern). One day his machine prints a strange set of numbers and mysteriously overloads and crashes. He thinks it’s a glitch and throws away the printed numbers.

But those numbers seem to form a pattern and he keeps seeing them everywhere he goes. It also turns out that he correctly predicted the numbers on the stock market. Things start to spiral down (pun intended) for Max since it seems that the set of numbers may have a more transcendental purpose and that he is not the only one in pursuit of the breakthrough.

On a tiny budget and with no recognizable actors, “Pi” is an extraordinary achievement. It is a paranoid thriller of fascinating possibilities that’s incredibly original and haunting. It was, pretty much, young director Darren Aronofsky’s calling card before he exploded into the scene with the brilliant “Requiem for a Dream” and recently gave us “The Wrestler” with Mickey’s Rourke’s great performance (This movie is by far his most accessible and the most rooted in real life).

To gaze at “Pi” is to realize that sci-fi doesn’t need huge budgets to be involving (the Spanish movie “Los Cronocrimenes” is a fascinating work about time travel that doesn’t involve elaborate special effects). At the time where blockbusters spend millions of dollars on effects, it’s refreshing to watch films that spend merely thousands on ideas.





miércoles, 6 de enero de 2010

Sin #11: Unknown

There’s an accident at the beginning of “Das Weisse Band” (“The White Ribbon”) but no suspects. As we’re slowly introduced to the villagers we feel an ominous and oppressive force concealed in the background as true evil lurks somewhere beyond our reach. There are more strange accidents and still no clue about their purpose. We wonder.

Somebody has been sending tapes to a family at the beginning of “Cache” (“Hidden”). There’s nothing special about them except that they send a clear message, the family is being watched. They don’t have a clue except for the husband who may have an idea, o maybe he doesn’t. We wonder.

Both films were directed by Michael Haneke, who has a talent to portray undiscovered mysteries and dark secrets (with variable degrees of success). “Das Weisse Band” won the coveted Palm D’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival (its highest honor) in a year that also had high profile movies like Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” (Tarantino won the Palm D’Or in 1994 for “Pulp Fiction”) and Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” (Von Trier won it in 2000 for “Dancer in the Dark”). The problem with “The White Ribbon” is that it’s just too darn slow and self congratulatory to involve us much. The audience grows restless as the movie introduces and develops too many characters and leaves the mystery hanging awkwardly in the air. And in true Haneke fashion, his ending offers no resolution whatsoever.
I, however, had a different reaction with “Cache”. Yes, it’s slow and equally foreboding but it stays focused and remains intriguing all the way to its provocative and rather disturbing last frame. “Cache” is frustrating viewing but it has an undeniable power; you simply cannot forget about it. As I try to piece it together after several viewings I still find myself trying to shake from the experience. It somehow grafted into my subconscious.
I guess a film this provocative can’t be considered bad; quite the contrary, “Cache” is a menacing thriller that never pumps up the volume. It remains predatorily silent and mysterious. Somehow it’s incredibly effective. I can’t say the same for “Das Weisse Band” even though it is beautifully photographed (in stunning black and white) and powerfully acted. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a bad film but I think it collapses under the weight of its own ambitions. It needed to be more cathartic and lessened its scope. With a tighter narrative it could have been really special.





Sin #10: Two Brit Flicks by Wright

It sometimes feels like the world is filled with zombies. After all, aren’t they the ones that are cuing on Tesco (a British supermarket) for their groceries?

Shaun lives with a couple of flat mates, works at an electronic shop and spends his weekends at a pub sitting with his girlfriend Liz and her friends. He’s such absent- minded however that he doesn’t notice Liz has had it with him and wants to move on. He also fails to realize that the world has been overrun by zombies (fortunately, he eventually notices).

“Shaun of the Dead” comes billed as the first zom-rom-com (or zombie romantic comedy). And even though it’s very funny, it isn’t a parody of zombie movies since it takes its zombie invasion very seriously indeed. The brilliance of the film comes from the wit of the comedic team of director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (with the help of a superb cast that includes the invaluable Bill Nighy as Shaun’s stepdad).

Wright, Pegg and Frost previously worked together on a brilliant TV show called “Spaced” that became somewhat of a cult favorite. It features the same sort of humor based on pop reference and geek fandom (on the series Pegg is a devoted “Star Wars” fan whose heart gets crushed after watching episode I, a “toy-advert” for a movie, as he calls it).

With Shaun, it feels that they bring “geekdom” to the mainstream. Even if most of the audience lose themselves in the references, they will certainly relate to Shaun’s laziness but gentle heart, his friendship with Ed and his love for Liz.

For their second collaboration, they went straight to the gut of mainstream entertainment by delivering a kick-ass action movie that was equally exciting and funny. For “Hot Fuzz” Pegg switched gears and became a super-cop that has the best record in his precinct. He’s so good he’s making everybody look bad, so he gets sent to the small town of Sandford, apparently the happiest and quietest village in the country…apparently.

It’s pretty obvious Wright is turning the action genre in its head, especially the movies of Michael Bay by delivering characters aware of every cliché (one of the cops is a movie buff that loves “Point Break” and “Bad Boys II”). With this approach he has made one of the smartest in a while.

“Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” are two endlessly inventive and funny “genre” films and certain proof that mainstream isn’t always bad.